Calling All 4-Wheelers For The 2014 UA - 4xForward

The Ultimate Adventure is our signature 4-wheelering event, famous around the world—and for good reason. Each year we select four readers and their rigs to join the staff, friends, and sponsors of the magazine for the best 4x4 summer camp/vacation ever. It could be you that joins us this year. All it takes is a competent rig and a team of two that can wheel, wrench, get along with others, and abide by our only real rule: No whiners! Sure, there’s a bunch of other requirements, but a positive attitude and the ability to go with the flow and fix what you have makes the trip a success for everyone.

Every year the trip is in a different region, and the adventure consists of a thousand-mile road trip with a killer four-wheel trail thrown in almost every day. You get to live out of your rig and cook, camp, and enjoy this great country with likeminded guys for a week in the summer, usually the beginning of July. You’ll have to pay all your own expenses and get time off of work to get there, wheel, and get home. Worst of all, we won’t tell you where you’re going until the last minute, no matter where we’re going in the USA. We said it’s not for whiners.

The problem is that many people don’t apply because they don’t think they will get picked—yet, like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. Your rig only needs to meet minimum wheeling requirements, starting with 35-inch or better tires, a self-recovery winch on the front, locking differentials front and rear, and a protective roll bar (or a cage if it’s an open vehicle). It doesn’t need to be a buggy or wallet-job either. But it has to be street legal in your state and properly registered, licensed, and insured. We don’t allow alcohol on the trail or road, and Illegal drugs are never allowed.

Trailers aren’t allowed during the trip, as we live out of the rigs for a week. That means you bring everything you need and nothing you don’t, because if you break you will need your own tools, parts, and knowledge. We’ve had first-time wheelers with well-built homegrown rigs do the entire trip without damage or breakage—so if they can do it, you can too. But carnage and body damage will most likely occur, no matter how careful we try to be, as our purpose is to wheel for the week, not for the day. There are no bypasses, no way to avoid body damage.

It’s not hard to apply. In fact, if you can’t send us an application and photos by mail, you can do it online. Remember to get your application in to us by March 31, 2014. After that, we select 10 entrants for consideration, and after some phone interviews the final four are selected. It could be you—if you want it. Go to www.4wheeloffroad.com/UA2014app for the application and rules. And remember: No whiners!